Vida normal

‘Vida normal’. ‘Normal life’ might not sound that exciting but after two months of enforced sitting around, the consultant’s words were music to my ears. That was on Tuesday. By the weekend I was walking down a scree slope with the aid of two walking poles. Normal life means different things to different people.

Two months after my injury I have come out the other side. I emerge with a body that has seized up from inactivity and what was my good shoulder has developed rotator cuff issues from leaning heavily on a crutch for five weeks but I am more motivated than ever to steadily work at getting this ageing body back to balance. My mind, has in contrast, been more active than ever, being forced to the forefront as it was.

After an initial period of intense self-pity (having to shuffle to the loo on your bum in the middle of the night will do that to a person) there was nothing for it but to embrace the enforced stillness and turn inward for a time of reflection. Finally there were no excuses for not writing in my journal daily and nothing more practically important (or possible) than laying about and thinking. Picture Winston Churchill in the bath with a cigar, only slightly less portly (to begin with anyway) and on the sofa with a surgical boot and a laptop.

Turns out being physically forced to sit and contemplate life has its upsides. Delegation of operational tasks happened in work and home because it had to. The world didn’t end. In fact business continued to flourish and so did family and I had plenty of time to think about the whys and wherefores of it all and make progress on a more strategic level.

My office for the afternoon

I celebrated my all-clear on Tuesday with a visit to the beach at Salinas post hospital appointment. Work got done from the terrace of the beach bar. Sun in my face and rolling waves on the horizon providing the backdrop to business phone calls. The joys of being your own boss and choosing what your own particular ‘vida normal’ is.

What about you – what’s your ‘vida normal’? And what changes would you make to it if you were to take a step back and tweak the design?